Zhu Chao accompanied me to watch short videos

Later, Yang Xianrong was saved because of the ministers' plea. In that era, Yang Xianrong was humiliated as the queen, and anyone could depose her at will. As the mother of a country, she had no sense of security, her life was in the hands of others, and she could only be at the mercy of others, which was worse than that of a commoner's daughter.

As the Yongjia Rebellion broke out, Liu Yao led his troops into Luoyang and captured Sima Chi, Emperor Huai of Jin, and Yang Xianrong and other members of the Jin royal family. In this way, Yang Xianrong was once again deposed and imprisoned. In the repeated dethronement and enthronement, her youth and beauty were consumed.

What say did the queen have in the troubled times? She was just a tool and bargaining chip in the political game of the royal family and the princes. She had no choice but to leave it to fate.

As the saying goes, "blessings and disasters go hand in hand." Yang Xianrong, a captive, turned a disaster into a blessing and became the concubine of Liu Yao, the Emperor of Han Zhao. After Liu Yao saw Yang Xianrong, he doted on her, even more than all other women, and made her the queen.

This was the sixth and last time Yang Xianrong was crowned as empress. Yang Xianrong gave birth to three sons for Liu Yao. Out of his love for her, Liu Yao even made their son the crown prince.

After 11 years of loving relationship with Liu Yao, Yang Xianrong died of illness. Liu Yao spent a huge amount of money to hold a grand funeral for his beloved wife. Although Liu Yao was not a good emperor at that time, he was a good husband to Yang Xianrong.

After having Liu Yao as his support, Yang Xianrong often sighed: "A real man should be like Liu Yao, who can protect his wife and children."

However, it was precisely because of this sentence that she was cursed for all eternity. According to the "Book of Jin", Liu Yao once asked Yang Xianrong: "Compared with the boy from the Sima family, how do I compare?"

Yang Xianrong replied: "How can they be compared? Your Majesty, you are the holy ruler who founded the country, while he is the ruler who destroyed the country.

He couldn't even protect himself, his wife and his children. He was an emperor, but he let his wife and children be humiliated by ordinary people. At that time, I really wanted to die. How could I be here today?

I was born into a noble family and always thought that all men in the world were the same, but since I started serving Your Majesty, I know that there are real men in the world. "Originally, these words were true. The idiot emperor Sima Zhong could not be compared with the great hero Liu Yao.

However, in the evaluation of Yang Xianrong in later generations, she was criticized because she was the daughter of a fallen country and not only did she not choose to die for her country, but instead gave herself to the leader of the rebels and was canonized as the queen of the enemy country. This was neither in line with the status of a queen nor in line with the norms of a woman.

However, looking back at Yang Xianrong's life, what was wrong with a poor weak woman in troubled times? Women in troubled times are like floating duckweed, and their life and death are not under their control.

Looking back on her life, we have to say that she was destined to be the queen. Although her fate was full of twists and turns, she lived a legendary life.

Perhaps it can be said that it was that era that shaped her life, and it was also that era that deepened her tragedy, which was also the tragedy of all women at that time.

[Read all the historical facts about the aristocratic families that surpass Huangquan in one go]

When it comes to the history of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, you may not know the 11 emperors of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, but you must know the four major families of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. As the most prominent representatives of the clan system, the four major families of the Eastern Jin Dynasty took turns to control the actual political power of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

It can be said that the four major families almost ran through the entire history of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Their family power was enough to compete with the imperial power, or even surpass it. Even the emperor was just a puppet in their hands. In this video, let's talk about the four major families of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

The most significant feature of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was the politics of the aristocratic families, that is, the emperor and the aristocratic families jointly ruled the country. There were four aristocratic families with the greatest influence in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and in order of their rise, they were the Wang family of Langya, the Yu family of Yingchuan, the Huan family of Qiao County, and the Xie family of Chen County.

Among them, the Wang family of Langya was the most respected. The Yu family inherited the past and ushered in the future. The Huan family was famous for military affairs, and the Xie family was the most romantic. Among these four families, there were many talented people, especially Wang Dao and Xie An.

What’s even more interesting is that these four families have an inseparable relationship: Wang Dao supported Sima Rui in establishing the Eastern Jin Dynasty; Yu Liang came to power because of his relationship with Sima Rui; Xie An got the opportunity to join the high family because his father was a good friend of Yu Liang; and the rise of the Xie family was closely related to Huan Wen.

Therefore, the political structure of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was often headed by the aristocratic families, and the emperor was just a figurehead. The saying that the Wang family of Langya and the Sima family "shared the world" is a typical portrayal of this phenomenon.

The Wang family of Langya came onto the stage together with the royal family of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Their influence was so great that there was a saying at that time that "Wang and Ma shared the world." The ancestors of the Wang family of Langya can be traced back to Wang Jian, a famous general of the Qin State.

The founder of the Wang family of Langya was Wang Ji, a counselor in the Western Han Dynasty. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the Wang family further developed and became a first-class aristocratic family. At that time, the Wang family produced two celebrities, one was Wang Rong, one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, and the other was Wang Yan, who served as prime minister.

Wang Yan was the key figure in the Wang family's rise to prominence in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In the late Western Jin Dynasty, the Central Plains was in turmoil, and Wang Yan sought a way out for the Wang family by sending the Wang family members to various places for refuge.

Among them, Wang Dao assisted Langya King Sima Rui to come to Jiangdong, and this group of people were the founders of the future Eastern Jin Dynasty. Sima Rui had a distant relationship with the Western Jin royal family and was a standard marginal prince, while Wang Dao relied on the banner of the prime minister Wang Yan and the Langya Wang family.

Therefore, before Sima Rui became emperor, Wang Dao and the Wang family had a higher status and influence than him. This abnormal relationship between the emperor and his subjects was a key factor in the formation of the aristocratic politics in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Sima Rui also understood the importance of the Wang family, so when he held the coronation ceremony, he even invited Wang Dao to sit on the dragon throne. Wang Dao was the well-deserved head of all officials in the court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In addition, his cousin Wang Dun also controlled the most important military force of the Eastern Jin Dynasty - the Jingzhou Army.

The Wang brothers, one civil and one military, formed the foundation of the early Eastern Jin Dynasty. Therefore, there was a saying among the people at that time that "Wang and Ma shared the world." The Eastern Jin royal family naturally did not want the Wang family to continue to grow. Sima Rui once publicly attacked Wang Dun, but was forced to death by the Wang family.

Although his successor Emperor Ming of Jin later settled the case of Wang Dun, due to the great influence of the Wang family, he did not implicate Wang Dao in the end and continued to give him important tasks.

After Wang Dao's death, although the Wang family's status declined, the Wang family of Langya always stood out from other clans during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Even after the fall of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Wang family of Langya was still an important political force in the Southern Dynasties.

Wang Dao's influence not only existed in the military and political circles, but also in the cultural circle. Wang Dao himself was a famous scholar who was good at calligraphy and was very popular.

The Wang family was rich in talent in this area, and the famous Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi came from this period. Throughout the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Wang family intermarried with the Sima family nearly 30 times, and almost all clans were proud to marry into the Wang family.

The Yu family, a foreign relative who maneuvered between the royal family and the gentry, was not well-known in the early Eastern Jin Dynasty. Fortunately, they moved south relatively early, had a long history, and had a practical talent like Yu Liang, which enabled them to become one of the four great families in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Yu Liang's sister Yu Wenjun was the empress of Emperor Ming of Jin. He entered the political arena with the status of a relative. After the death of Emperor Ming of Jin, Yu Wenjun was promoted to empress dowager and entrusted all government affairs to Yu Liang, who thus became the actual ruler of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Yu Liang wanted to make a difference, but he had high aspirations but low skills, and offended many powerful people, which eventually led to the Su Jun Rebellion. Although the rebellion was quelled, it caused huge losses to the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Jiangdong. Yu Liang, the instigator, could not escape the blame, so he took the initiative to resign and transferred to a local position.

Although Yu Liang left the central government, he did not give up military power and always held the most important Jingzhou Army in the Eastern Jin army. Yu Liang planned to earn merits through the Northern Expedition to return to the central government, but he had no talent in military affairs and ultimately died without any achievements.

After Yu Liang's death, his two younger brothers, Yu Bing and Yu Yi, inherited his will. Both of them had certain talents and returned to the central government one after another, continuing to maintain the influence of the Yu family in the court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Unfortunately, Yu Wenjun's son, Emperor Cheng of Jin, died young. In order to maintain her status as a maternal relative, the Yu family supported Emperor Cheng of Jin's second brother, Sima Yue, as the new emperor. However, God did not bless the Yu family, and Sima Yue died after only two years as emperor. Yu Wenjun had no other sons to establish.

Sima Pi, the eldest son of Emperor Cheng of Jin, became the fifth emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the Yu family's status as a relative of the emperor lost its talismanic effect. In the next two years, Yu Bing and Yu Yi died one after another, and the Yu family lost its talents and gradually withdrew from the ranks of the first-class families.

The powerful Huan family, which rose to prominence through military power, started from a lower starting point than the Yu family, but was far superior to the Yu family in terms of military power, which established the Huan family's status as a powerful family. The Huan family of the Eastern Jin Dynasty rose to prominence with Huan Yi, and his son Huan Wen carried forward the family's prosperity.

Huan Wen was a man of great reputation and elegance, and he was well-received among the circles of celebrities. He once said, "If a man cannot leave a good reputation for centuries, he should at least leave a bad reputation for thousands of years."

This also shows his courage and ambition. As a rare military talent, Huan Wen was promoted by the Jiankang aristocratic family to replace the Yu family in the Beijing army.

Huan Wen proved himself to be an above average military commander. He launched several northern expeditions and, after several decades, once again led the Jin army to Guanzhong. At the same time, he also pacified Bashu and brought the territory under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Jin court.

Under Huan Wen's leadership, the Jin army gradually gained the initiative in foreign battlefields. It is no exaggeration to say that Huan Wen was so successful that he frightened his master. He was full of pride and gradually had the idea of ​​replacing the Sima family.

However, other noble families did not want to see the Huan family dominate. The Jiankang noble families represented by the Xie family praised Huan Wen on the surface, but secretly formed an alliance to resist Huan Wen's erosion of imperial power. In the end, Huan Wen died of illness, and the usurpation of the throne was left unresolved.

After Huan Wen, the leader of the Huan family was his younger brother Huan Chong. He was a loyal man who neither supported his brother's attempt to usurp the throne nor could he tolerate the treachery of the Jiankang nobles. Huan Chong implemented a strategic contraction, tightly grasped the military power of Jingzhou, and did not participate in the disputes in Jiankang.

After Huan Chong's death, the Jingzhou army was taken back by the Eastern Jin court, and the Huan family entered a low ebb period.

However, Huan Wen's son Huan Xuan gradually emerged. He was very ambitious and tried to restore his father's glory. Eventually he regained control of the Jingzhou army.

Huan Xuan then rebelled, captured Jiankang, and established the Huan Chu regime. This regime was short-lived and was soon destroyed by Liu Yu, who came from the Northern Army, and the Huan family was wiped out.

The last powerful family of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Xie family of Chen County, was the only family that could be compared with the Wang family of Langya in terms of talent reserves. Later generations often referred to them as "Wang Xie". The starting point of the Xie family was slightly higher than that of the Wang family, but only slightly higher.

At the beginning of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Xie family was a pure Confucian family of scholars. By the generation of Xie An, there was a surge in talented people.

Xie An, Xie Xuan, Xie Shi and others jointly supported half of the court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The rise of the Xie family was closely related to Huan Wen's support, especially in the military, where they had accumulated a lot of original capital.

The Battle of Feishui became the peak of the Xie family's career. Xie An sat in the rear and commanded the overall situation, while his nephews Xie Xuan, Xie Shi and others led the army to meet the enemy. In the end, they defeated the 8 troops of the Former Qin with 80 Northern Army.

Afterwards, Xie organized a northern expedition and recovered a large area of ​​territory south of the Yellow River, including Luoyang. His achievements surpassed Huan Wen. Of course, the Xie family was better than Huan in that they knew the principle of "the moon is full and then it wanes".

After achieving unparalleled success, the Xie family gradually and voluntarily withdrew from the core circle of power. This prevented them from becoming the main target of attack during the subsequent Huan Xuan Rebellion and allowed them to preserve their vitality.

After the fall of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Xie family, like the Wang family of Langya, continued to prosper, especially in literature, where they could be called the best in the Southern Dynasties. For example, Xie Lingyun and Xie Tiao, known as the "Big and Small Xies", were the pioneers of Tang poetry.

As we all know, real aristocrats in Chinese history only appeared during the period from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Southern Dynasties, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty was the peak of aristocratic culture.

However, with the devastating blow to the power of the aristocratic families caused by Hou Jing's Rebellion, and the establishment of the imperial examination system in the Sui Dynasty, when the selection of talents based on academic knowledge became the mainstream, the aristocratic families based on the aristocratic family system completely declined.

As the Tang Dynasty poet Liu Yuxi wrote: "The setting sun is slanting at the entrance of Wuyi Lane, and the swallows that formerly stood in front of the Wang and Xie halls have now flown into the homes of ordinary people." The once prominent Wang and Xie families eventually became part of the lives of ordinary people.

[Historical knowledge about the earliest animal protectionists in Chinese history]

He was the only monarch in Chinese history to be eaten by his enemies, and he was also a laughing stock in the eyes of the ministers in the court. He was obsessed with raising cranes, which eventually led to the demise of the country.

In this video, let us learn about Duke Yi of Wei.

Duke Yi of Wei, surnamed Ji and named Chi, was the 18th monarch of the State of Wei during the Spring and Autumn Period. His father was the Prince Shuo mentioned in the previous video, namely Duke Hui of Wei.

Duke Hui of Wei once framed his elder brother, which led to the killing of his two elder brothers, and he eventually became the king. His grandfather was Duke Xuan of Wei, who was shameless and built a platform for pleasure. As the ancients said, "If you are not from the same family, you will not enter the same door."

Compared with his grandfather and father, Duke Yi of Wei's debauchery and immorality seemed to be inherited from the family.

In 669 BC, Prince Chi succeeded to the throne and became Duke Yi of Wei. He was born in the royal palace and lived a life of luxury. After he succeeded to the throne, he became even more licentious and immoral. The history books summarized Duke Yi of Wei's behavior after he ascended the throne in four words: licentiousness and extravagance.